Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Weight Reduction
Conditions
Keywords
Weight Reduction, Health Literacy, Financial Incentives, Lifestyle Change
Brief summary
The objective of this project is to design a Behavioral Economics Based Online Lifestyle Balance Program that employs behavioral economics to engage and motivate adherence to an Internet-based program. The investigators compare the effects of two financial incentives on inducing weight loss: a direct financial incentive for weight loss and a financial incentive for health literacy.
Detailed description
This project investigates whether participants in an online weight loss program can be induced to achieve weight loss using financial incentives. The study is a 3-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) stratified by gender. The goal is to examine how overweight individuals respond to two different types of financial incentives. The first type of incentive, incentive for weight loss (IW), is a cash award of approximately $150 given for achieving 5% weight loss over 12 weeks. The second type of incentive, incentive for education (IE), is a $150 award for passing quizzes that test the participants' health literacy about weight loss and the techniques required for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The investigators compare the effectiveness of IW to IE in promoting weight loss in overweight individuals and investigate whether the two incentives work equally well for men and women.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALIncentive for Education
A $150 Incentive for Education is given to the participants for passing at least nine quizzes by the end of the program
BEHAVIORALIncentive for Weight Loss
A $150 Incentive for Weight Loss is given to the participants for losing at least 5% of baseline weight by the end of the program
Sponsors
National University of Singapore
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Masking description
A participant knows only the information that is specific to his/her arm.
Intervention model description
3-arm RCT (Control, Incentive for Weight Loss, Incentive for Education) stratified by Gender.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* BMI between 23 and 33 * Age between 40 and 60 years old
Exclusion criteria
* History of diabetes * History of significant cardiovascular disease * Family history of atherosclerosis * High blood pressure * Significant lung disease
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weight Loss at the end of the weight loss program (at Week 13) | At week 13 of the RCT. | Weight measured at the Week 13 weigh-in session. Weight measurements are taken by trained research assistants using digital scales. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weight Loss at the end of the post-intervention period (Week 25) | At week 25 of the RCT. | Weight measured at the Week 25 weigh-in session. Weight measurements are taken by trained research assistants using digital scales. |
Countries
Singapore
Outcome results
None listed